Farmers of Rohtak complain that snowflakes accumulated on plants have destroyed mustard and potato crops on a large scale.

"Crops have been destroyed and even the hay stored as fodder has been destroyed. Animals have fallen sick due to the extreme cold," said Sanjay, a farmer.

The farmers of Punjab's Abohar are facing similar problems, as their 50 to 70 per cent of keenu fruit plants were damaged.

"I have never seen so much fog in my entire life. It is not within our control to stop this. When we take these crops covered with frost in the market, we are forced to sell them at price of two to three rupees per kg," said Charanjit Singh, a gardner.

The closure of the juice factory started by the Punjab Government has exacerbated matters and increased losses, and farmers have demanded that it should be restarted and new factories should be established.